Stranger Things Have Happened
by theskullofhorror666
Summary: Luke Harmon didn't know, really, what to expect when he took an old rope and hung himself in his parents' garage to escape his previous life...but it sure as hell wasn't this. He also didn't expect to meet 19 year old Rory Young, who soon learns that his older brother had apparently offed himself right after he had. The two then set out on a road trip to find him, stumbling on
1. A Way To Kill Time

Luke sat at the end of a bar, cracking open what would be his third bottle of beer now.

He noted _Stranger things have happened_ by _The_ _Foo Fighters_ playing from the jukebox and wondered if they were avoiding the Nirvana songs on it on purpose.

It was going on a full week now since he'd hung himself with that old rope he'd found in his parents garage.  
A rope that probably should've been old enough to give out and sabotage his attempt, preventing him from waking up here, in this bizarre excuse for an afterlife. Some level of Purgatory, not quite bad enough to be hell, certainly not good enough be Heaven, but he digressed.  
He wasn't quite sure if he was actually getting used to this place or if anything was just better than going on out in normal life, and he couldn't decide which was more depressing.

He was caught slightly off guard when a pretty, young blonde woman approached him and broke his train of thought.  
"Didn't get here by drinking yourself to death, did you?" she asked.  
Luke gave a slightly humorless chuckle to this. "I'm guessing you didn't get here by your great manners, did ya?" He took a swig.  
She just shrugged. "That's what the game's all about"  
Now this amused him, even if only slightly.  
"I see now, is this how people flirt in the afterlife?" He smirked.  
She shook her head. "Just a way to kill time, really" she nodded to another blonde woman, sitting at a table in the back. "You see, my friend Rachel and I, we play this game where we try to guess how people offed themselves and we were just guessing about you".  
He shrugged "I guess it's a way".  
She nodded. "So how'd you do it?"  
He set his beer down to pull down the collar of his Nirvana t shirt, was that in bad taste, considering how he got here? He hoped that it wasn't, although he definitely would've thought his attire choice through if he'd known where he'd end up...hell, if he knew there was any sort of an afterlife, he would've. He didn't wanna be that guy.  
He pointed out the the wide scar which spread all across his neck and made an attempt at a sort of crrrick! type sound affect with a head jerk.  
She looked back to her friend. "Three points for meee!" she chimed.  
He chuckled again. "So how'd you do it?"  
"Me?" she asked, as if surprised by the question.  
He nodded "assuming this is a two way street, that is"  
"It is" she smiled. "That is, if you're game"  
He shrugged "why not, I've got nothin better to do, right?" he repeated the question. "So, how'd you do it?"  
"Gas". she answered.  
"Ahh, the old head in the oven" he smirked, picking up his beer.  
"Precisely" she said.  
"Be lying if I said I didn't at least consider it" he shrugged and got up to join 'em.


	2. It Gets Darker

You mind?" his question aimed at both girls as he took out the box from his jeans. He stuck one of the cigarettes it contained and patted his pockets for his lighter when they said they didn't.  
He lit up when he finally found it and offered each one, to which only the one called Rachel accepted.

Business in the bar was starting to slow back down, which left mostly regulars and very little game left, so they'd resorted to making small talk, or some version of it anyway.  
"So what do you do, when you're not getting flagged down by strangers in bars?" the one who'd introduced herself as Tania asked him, referring to previous similar wording on his part when he'd asked her.  
He chuckled "well I work over at the Kamikaze pizzeria, just down the street. Owner had just gotten an opening, apparently, after his last hire just up and disappeared or some shit like that" he took a drag from his cigarette.  
"Really?" Tania said, sounding particularly intrigued by this.  
"Yeah...let me tell you he was not happy, practically had to beg him to give me something when he learned I'd just gotten here, same as that other guy had when he hired him"

"His name didn't happen to be Zia, did it?"  
They all turned around to see it was the guy sitting over at the next table who'd interrupted.  
Some kid, who couldn't have been more than like 17 or 18...maybe 19 at the oldest.

"Might have been something like that..." Luke answered. "You know him?"  
The kid shook his head. "Nahhh, not me. My boyfriend though, he met him like once or twice. His brother knew him better though-"  
Luke cut him off. "Hold on, he has a brother here too? Man, that's dark" he smirked.  
The kid shook his head, chuckling. "Man, it gets darker too"  
"And how's that" Luke asked. "If you don't mind me asking. He took another drag of his cigarette.  
"Apparently his whole family offed, or at least most of his family".  
Luke thought his jaw was gonna drop to the table when he heard this. "A whole family?" he repeated. Surely, he hadn't heard that right.  
But the kid nodded. "Yeah, man. His mom was homesick, apparently. His father was having trouble accepting him coming out as gay, then him shortly after that, and his brother...man that was something, if I ever heard it"  
"Tell me" Luke said.  
"During a gig, he offed with THE FUCKING GUITAR, doused it with beer right in the middle of the show" he answered.  
Luke raised his eyebrows. "SHIT, man"  
The kid shook his head "I'm tellin ya..." he chuckled and then reached his hand out to shake his "ohhh, I'm Rory, by the way".  
He shook it. "Luke" he replied, then gestured behind him. "That's Tania aaand Rachel..." he turned his head all the way around to see that they had both already left. He just shrugged and put out his cigarette.  
Rory chuckled. "I wanna say we probably lost them at a whole family offed"  
Luke chuckled. "Probably". He decided to change the subject back. "So, this Zia guy..."  
Rory shot a finger gun at him. "Right. Yeah, so Kostya, my boyfriend, his brother took him on some road trip to find this ex girlfriend of his who'd offed right after he did, supposedly when he caught up with her, he also met up with the people in charge or some shit, got on their good side, and they sent him back to life, him and this girl who got here by mistake somehow".  
"Man, you weren't kidding" Luke smirked. "Except it didn't just get darker...got weirder too".  
Rory chuckled. "I guess it did, didn't it".  
Luke nodded. "So what are you doing here...I mean, how'd you...you know, if you don't mind me asking".  
Rory shrugged. "It's cool. Mine was a car crash"  
"Ouch" Luke replied.  
"Yeah... yeah my uhhh, my mom didn't take my coming out all that well either. I drove right off a cliff" he smirked after that last part. "When I woke up here, I half expected some psycho standing over me, claiming I'm your number one fan"  
"Right..._Misery_, heh, can't say it's not fitting".  
Luke laughed.  
Rory chuckled "yeah, that's one way to put it" he decided to turn the question back on him. "So how'd you do it?"  
"Ahhh, hanging" he pulled at his shirt again. "Nothing in particular, really, just kinda was inevitable, you could say...by some method". He pulled the sleeve of his jacket up to reveal some old cigarette burns.  
"Ahhh..." Rory said.


	3. The Kid Is Alright

After sharing a few more smokes and some slightly better attempts at small talk than with the blondes, Luke decided that this Rory kid was alright. He even offered to buy him a beer, hell knows the kid deserved it after ending up in this shithole from trying to escape his shit living situation.

With his father having left shortly after he was born, the kid was left living with his apparently homophobic mother and his older half brother who'd been the result of a one night stand about four years prior to meeting his deadbeat excuse for a father. His brother apparently , took his coming out as bisexual surprisingly well "bro, I couldn't care less if you hooked up with someone with two heads or purple skin, as long as they're good to you then I don't have to kick their ass" had been his exact words.  
He really hated leaving him behind.  
His mother, on the other hand, had taken it quite the opposite. She considered it an embarrassment and told him that he'd "just better never bring it under her roof".  
He'd taken a drive, some odd days after the conversation, to try to clear his head and make peace with just keeping his brother close, but it just all kept echoing and replaying in his head til he couldn't take it anymore and...well, Luke pieced together the rest.

"Thanks, but I'm only 19, sooo..." Rory chuckled nervously at the offer.  
"Ah come on, kid, you think anyone gives a shit here? We're dead, he's dead" he nodded toward the bartender "I doubt if he's even gonna think to check an ID that hardly anyone thought to have on em when they offed." He turned back to holler him over "what do you say, man? One for the kid, on me!"  
The guy nodded, but Rory just chuckled slightly and waved him off. "Thaaat's alright, I gotta call it a day anyway" he started to get up. "Good to meet ya Luke, you're like only the second person here to not get bored or scared away by my hard luck shit story"  
He shook his hand "anytime, man. My place is just up the street a ways, right by the pizza place, come find me sometime"  
Rory nodded, "sounds good", and they went their separate ways.

By the time Luke got back to his place, the sun had just barely set on the starless sky that loomed over this place. Not that he ever really bothered to pay attention to their presence in his previous life, the sky seemed empty nonetheless.  
He tossed his coat on the crappy old dresser, which was bound to give up the ghost...so to speak...any day now, and returned to the living room to switch the TV on and put a disc of Bojack Horseman episodes in the little DVD player that seemed to only work when it damn well felt like it.  
"Guess you're feeling somewhat generous today" he said aloud as it took only a few extra minutes to load and then took him to a set of ads, which he promptly hit menu on.

He was just about nearing the end of the second episode when the phone rang.  
He didn't figure the kid to be desperate enough to call him this soon after parting ways for the night, he DID say he had a boyfriend, didn't he?, but he couldn't figure who else would be trying to reach him.  
Surely he couldn't be reached by anyone outside of this shithole, could he?  
He shrugged and reached for the cellphone, which was buzzing on the coffee table in front of him, and swiped to answer it.  
"Hello?" he asked, trying not to sound too taken aback.  
"Luke?" the familiar voice asked back.  
"Yeah. Rory, right?" Luke confirmed.  
"Yeah, man. Listen, I know we just met and all, but could we meet up again tomorrow? Got a favor I need to ask"  
He hated agreeing to favors that couldn't be asked in the same sentence, but he didn't concern himself with that. This kid had hardly anything here, so he figured it was the least he could do.  
"Sure man, anything"  
Rory breathed a sigh of relief. "Cool, same place?"  
"I'll be there" he answered. "I'll call you when I get off work, about the same time as tonight"  
"Thanks, man. I owe you one".  
He wanted to say he didn't, but took it. He liked the kid alright, but that didn't change the fact he still didn't know what he was agreeing to. "Don't mention it" he said, hitting play on his episode when he hung up the phone.


	4. Death's Happen In Threes

Luke entered the bar and glanced around until his eyes caught Rory, sitting at a table near the back with a hand waving him over and a beer bottle in front of him.  
Luke chuckled, and made his way over to the table after grabbing one for himself.

He pulled up the chair next to him to sit.  
"Hey man, I still owe you that one you didn't accept last night, remember?"  
Rory chuckled humorlessly. "Right, well I've kinda got a lot on my mind right now. Plus I'm the one who owes you now, remember, for what I'm about to ask".  
"Well I guess we'll see about that" Luke took a swig of his beer. "So, let's hear it".  
Rory sighed "...you know that old saying deaths happen in threes?"  
Luke nodded. "Something like that, yeah".  
"Well...on my way home-errr my place" nothing really homey about this place, he thought to himself. "..I stopped off at a convenience store, a few blocks from here, to grab some sodas and whatnot"  
Luke nodded along "alright..."  
"I ran into my brother's girlfriend- or EX girlfriend, I don't really know the situation anymore, and I didn't bother to ask...anyway, we got to talking, she said she was sorry for what had happened...yadda yadda, and then she said Jett- my brother's killed himself".  
"Shit, man.." was all he could think to respond to that.  
Rory put his head in his hands. "I knew I shouldn't have left him, man! I should've known he would take it this way" he felt as if he was about to burst into tears, and Luke could see it.  
He took another minute to collect himself.  
"You gotta help me, man. I gotta know where he is, I gotta find him" he sniffled a little. "He's probably worried sick about me, and I need to know that he's okay too"  
And what exactly is your definition of "okay" in this universe?, Luke wanted to say, but felt it ill timed. "So what do you want me to do then?" he asked instead.  
"I need you to come with me" he answered. "I don't know where, but I know I can't be alone in figuring this out"  
"What about your boyfriend?" Luke asked "he seriously won't take you to find your own brother?"  
Rory shook his head. "It's not like that, Luke, it's me. I met Kostya AFTER I got here, didn't exactly figure this the appropriate situation in which to introduce my brother to my new boyfriend, and he understands that."  
Luke chuckled "yeah, I suppose not".  
"Plus.." Rory added. "You have a car, right?"  
Luke nodded "yeah she's not great, but she runs"  
"That'll do" Rory confirmed.  
Luke agreed. "So when do we leave then?"  
"Tomorrow morning'd be best" Rory answered. "It'll give us the night to pack and most of the day to look. You can get the day off, right? I know it's a lot to ask, but I swear I wouldn't if I had any other way"  
Luke nodded "Tomorrow morning's fine. Boss won't like it, but he's just gonna have to deal".  
Rory hugged him. "Thanks again, man. Seriously, I owe you one".  
"You really don't, kid, but you're welcome." Luke chuckled, patting his back in an attempt to comfort him. "His girlfriend, ex girlfriend, whatever she is, give you any idea where we might start?"  
Rory pulled away and shook his head. "Didn't have a clue, though I have a hunch he's not too far away. Probably not around here, I asked around until you called saying you were on your way."  
Luke shrugged. "It's a start, I guess. So what time do we leave, exactly?"  
"9am? I could leave earlier, probably won't get much sleep tonight if any, but I figure you can use a little more sleep"  
Luke sipped the last bit of his beer. "9 works for me. Just text me your address, and I'll let ya know when I'm on my way".  
Rory nodded, taking a swig of his own.


	5. The Next Morning

As was promised him, Luke awoke early the next morning to Rory's text letting him know the address he was to pick him up from.  
What I wouldn't have given to have a brother who'd go to this trouble for me, Luke thought to himself before quickly shaking it from his mind. No time to go down that road now, today was about the kid, who actually has a brother.  
He texted a quick reply to thank him and let him know he'd be on his way soon.  
Having a small luggage bag already mostly packed the previous night, he did a quick double check around the small apartment, grabbed some road snacks, and was out the door.

Rory lived on the second floor of an average looking apartment building, just ten or so minutes away from his own place, with his boyfriend.  
The two had met shortly after Rory had offed and was still struggling to find his footing in this shithole, in front of a run down convenience store.  
Kostya had been the first person to let Rory know he wasn't alone in this life and, eventually, the first person he came out to here too. They bonded over shit luck back stories and how similar their arrival into this life had really been.  
In short, Kostya had taken him under his wing, even hooking him up with this not too shabby apartment. They moved in together on a platonic, roommate only basis, and things ended up blossoming from there.

Luke raised his hand to knock at the door when it was opened by, who he assumed to be, the kid's boyfriend.  
"Luke, right?" he asked  
Luke nodded "right, Kose-Kos...ya?" He couldn't remember that name more than two seconds, for the life...err I guess it was death now, of him.  
"Kostya" he corrected "It's Russian"  
"Right..." Luke chuckled nervously. "Kostya, nice to meet you" he reached his hand out to shake.  
"You too" Kostya chuckled, just as Rory appeared at the door.  
Rory kissed him, briefly, on the lips, on his way out. "I'll call you and keep you posted, babe"  
Kostya kissed him again. "I know you will, I love you"  
"Love you too" Rory replied. He picked up his bag and started down the steps.  
Luke waved back at Kostya and followed shortly behind.

"He seems nice" Luke said, once they got down to the car.  
Rory chuckled "yeah, I like him"  
Luke slid into the driver's seat of the rusted old Jeep Wrangler as Rory slid in beside him, tossing his bag in the back seat beside Luke's.  
"You eat yet?" he asked, putting the key in the ignition.  
Rory nodded "yeah, Kos made breakfast this morning, he's kind of a romantic that way"  
"Well that makes one of us" Luke chuckled. "We'll find a drive thru on the way, for me, cool?"  
Rory nodded "you're the driver"  
"Well, you're the guide" Luke reminded him.  
Rory chuckled "drive thru's fine" he buckled in his seatbelt.  
"Okay" Luke replied. "Drive thru, it is".


	6. Bad Puns Aren't Lost On The Afterlife

Rory rummaged through the small stacks of CDs and cassettes Luke kept in the glove compartment for something to listen to while Luke kept an eye out for the nearest fast food joint. God, was he sorry he skipped breakfast.

Rory chuckled humorlessly at one of his finds "I suppose _Nirvana_'d be in bad taste, considering". He glanced back toward Luke "...or would it"  
Luke glanced over at him, knowing he was likely referring to the shirt he'd met him in. "I can't believe it took you this long to point that out"  
Rory shrugged. "Didn't wanna say anything. Kostya's brother has this old saying, if any of us had a clue about anything we wouldn't be here in the first place"  
"Well, he's got a point there" Luke agreed. "I told myself that, had I known where I'd end up, I'd have thought my attire choices through more carefully...probably my choices in general, if I'm being honest"  
Rory nodded. "I hear ya".

Rory finally settled on a _Queen_ cassette, and popped it in the player. They both had to stifle back a laugh when _Keep yourself alive_ blasted through the speakers.  
"Aaand the award for least appropriate song choice on this journey goes to...!" Luke declared.  
"Yes..." Rory agreed "now, if only you'd worn that Nirvana shirt of yours today, this trip could be perfect...well, almost perfect anyway"  
Rory got real quiet for a moment, so Luke patted his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "Hey. Try not no worry about it, kid, we'll find your brother"  
Rory nodded, sullenly still. "Thanks, I'm sure you're right...I just, I just don't know. I never thought he'd do something like this".  
"...I know" Luke said, gently. "I don't think anyone ever does"  
_Sometimes they probably don't even miss you._  
Luke though to himself, in reference to his own suicide. He decided against saying it out loud, though.  
Rory shook his head. "God, I can't even imagine what that'd be like, if it were vice versa, you know? If he'd offed before..." he was trying to hold back tears. "He must be so pissed at me too, like how could I do that to- ?"  
"Okay, Rory, Rory!" Luke cut him off, attempting to calm him down. "Slow down, okay? You can't think like that, alright? I'm sure he forgives you."  
Rory just shrugged him off.  
"Come on, you know he does" Luke reassured. "You would if it were vice versa, right?"  
"Wouldn't even be a question". Rory sighed. "I hope you're right"  
So do I, kid, so do I, he thought to himself.  
Luke flipped the tape over in the cassette player and set his eyes back on the road.  
"It'll be okay, kid".  
Rory tried to believe him.

Another fifteen minutes or so into their drive, before Luke's eyes caught sight of a run down looking burger joint with a big neon sign that read BURGERTORY.  
Luke scoffed. "Guess bad puns aren't lost on the afterlife, afterall, are they?"  
Rory chuckled slightly. "You should know, Mr Kamikaze Pizza"  
Luke shrugged. "Yeah, fair".


	7. Not Far

I didn't even know you could get burgers and fries before 11am" Rory marveled, once Luke got his order and pulled out of the drive thru.  
"How is it I've only been here a week-ish and you're more caught off guard at this than I am?" Luke asked through a mouthful of burger. He wrinkled his nose slightly "maybe there's a reason for that though, this is not good" he scoffed and then took another bite.  
"And yet you're still eating it" Rory noted.  
"I told you I was starving, Burger Sheriff"  
Luke teased, roughing up the kid's hair. "Have some fries, they're pretty decent".  
Rory shook his head. "I already ate, remember"  
"Oh yeah, Prince Charming made you guys breakfast" Luke recalled.  
"Kostya" Rory corrected. "Yeah, he's the best".  
Luke shook his head. "I will never remember that name"  
"Not with that attitude, you won't" Rory teased.  
Luke shrugged. "So how long have you guys been together, again? If you don't mind me asking".  
"I don't" Rory chuckled. "I got here about five months ago, met Kostya about a couple weeks later, and we started actually dating about a month later"  
Luke downed another handful of fries "so about four months then?"  
"In short, yeah" Rory answered. "You seeing anyone...either before or after?"  
"nahhh, I mean, not that I wasn't looking, I was sorta into this girl a while before I offed, but nothin that really made it past wanting" Luke answered  
"That's a bummer" Rory said.  
Luke shrugged "it is what it is".  
Rory nodded "not even with either of those two girls I saw you with...or both of em? I won't judge".  
Luke chuckled slightly. "Nahh, I mean they were nice and all, but nah they were just lookin to kill time. Had nothing better to do"  
"Does anyone?" Rory pointed out.  
Luke took a sip of his soda "probably not".

Luke counted his money out on the gas station counter for gas, chips, and a couple donuts that hopefully tasted better than the burger that was worse that the joke that advertised it, while Rory flagged down customers who might have seen his brother.  
He turned to walk out the door when his eye caught a large three ring binder at the end of the counter.  
Curiosity aroused, he turned the first page.  
What were you thinking when the incident occurred?  
Several sheets, all saying the same thing but with different names and addresses and phone numbers filled in the spaces.  
The cashier chuckled. "Happens alllll the time, man, at least a handful of em a day"  
"What does?" Luke asked.  
The cashier came around to where he was and pointed to a stray gas nozzle that laid out in front of one of the spots outside.  
"Damn gas nozzles" he said. "People got so much on their minds these days, just slips them".  
"I hear that" he said humorlessly, flipping through the book til a page jumped out at him.  
I was thinking about what I was going to say to my little brother when I saw him. I know he would've wanted me to go on after he went, but how could I? I hope he can forgive me.

He yanked the page out, when the guy wasn't looking, and took off to catch up with the kid who was showing his brother's picture to someone.  
"Alright, well if you see him, will you tell him to call me?  
The couple he was talking to nodded and said that of course they would.

"Rory, Rory, Rory!" he called out, paper still in his hand.  
"Luke, Luke, Luke!" Rory answered.  
"What'd you say your brother's name was?" Luke attempted to catch his breath.  
"Oh now you can't remember my brother's name" Rory teased.  
Luke rolled his eyes. "Okay, let's assume it's Jett" he put the piece of paper in his hand.  
Rory's eyes widened as they skimmed over the page. "It is! It's him!" he declared. "I knew he wasn't far, man, I felt it in my gut!"  
"Right, you were right. Where to now then?" Luke asked.  
"To the address, of course! See, it's not far from here!" Rory pointed to the address under his thumb.  
"Alright, kid" Luke chuckled. "Hop in, then".  
He hopped in the driver seat, and Rory In the passenger seat, and they pulled out.


	8. NO SMOKING, Unless You Want To

They stopped off at a diner early that evening, for food that was hopefully better than that first burger joint and so that Rory could call and check in with Kostya about their lead.

The outdated (even for what it was) pay phone he used sat near a medium sized sized NO SMOKING sign which someone had sharpied "UNLESS YOU WANT TO" over it in black.  
He shook his head when he saw Luke pull out a cigarette anyway, clearly only taking note of the sign's addition.

"Maybe by tomorrow, if we start back up early?" he told him. "The guy at the gas station gave us a pretty good lead and another few even suggested they might've seen him...I know, I miss you too...alright, I'll call you again later, okay? Alright, I love you too...bye"  
He hung up the phone and went to join Luke, who was seated at a booth with his cigarette.  
"Really?" he teased.  
Luke shrugged. "Gotta read the sign, man".  
Rory rolled his eyes. "Right, the sign".

A waitress, who looked to be about Luke's age or maybe a year or two older, came around to their table. Her light brown hair, which was just a tone lighter than her skin, pulled back in a ponytail except for a few strands that hung just off to the side of her face.  
She didn't bear any scars, none that Luke could see, so Luke figured she must've offed with pills or poison or something of the like.  
She seemed to recognize Rory, almost on sight. "Hey guys" she greeted before turning back to Rory. "Any luck?"  
Rory nodded. "A little. We got an address from a book at a gas station some odd miles back, that we're heading to in the morning and some witnesses that seemed to recognize him when I showed his picture."  
She nodded. "Well when you find him, tell him I'd just like to talk, okay?"  
Rory nodded back "course"  
"Thanks" she tapped her little notepad with her pen. "In the meantime, anything I can get you and your friend here?"  
"An ash tray, if you would, would be great. Thanks" Luke answered.  
Luke rolled his eyes. "He's kidding, Liv" pleeeaase be kidding.  
The waitress, named Liv, sighed. "I won't tell if you won't" She discreetly placed a small glass coaster in front of Luke. "Best I can do" she whispered.  
Luke took a last drag off the cigarette and set it on the coaster when he put it out.  
"She'll do, thank you very much".  
Rory rolled his eyes again, though Luke didn't take note. "Don't encourage him"  
"I don't know what you're talking about" Liv teased.  
"Riiight" Rory chuckled, humorlessly.  
"Anything else?" she asked, returning to her note pad.  
"How are the burgers in this place?" Luke asked.  
"Better than most of the fast food joints in this place" she answered. "Jesus"  
"I'll be the judge of that" Luke smirked. "And some fries"  
Liv jotted that down. "Cheese on that?"  
"On the burger or the frie- scratch that, yes to both"  
"We do offer cheese fries" she nodded. "That's a little extra though, that okay"  
"Perfect" Luke said.  
Liv nodded, jotting that down too. "Anything to drink?"  
"Coke'll do"  
"Pepsi okay?" Liv asked.  
_Of course they don't have coke in this shithole._  
"Sure" he said instead.  
Liv looked to Rory.  
"I'll have the same" he answered.  
Liv nodded, jotting on her notepad again.  
"Two orders of cheeseburgers, cheese fries, and some pepsis" she repeated back to them. "Coming right up". She took their menus and walked off.  
"Thanks again!" Luke called after her. He turned his attention back to Rory. "Well she's getting a tip, if I ever saw one"  
"Uh huh" Rory said.  
"So Liv, huh? That short for Olivia?" Luke asked, seeming hopeful.  
"Yes, Luke. Short for Olivia, as in Olivia, my brother's _girlfriend_" emphasis on girlfriend. "Or ex girlfriend..." he corrected himself, lowering his voice. "Still don't know what's going on there"  
Luke nodded. "Yeah, suicide's quite the mood killer, huh?"  
Rory sighed. "That's one way to put it".  
Luke nodded. "...sorry, man"  
"It's fine" Rory said.


	9. Kneller's Happy Campers

The sun had already set, and Luke was pulling over to what appeared to be a campsite, of some sort, that had been taped off with police tape.  
The sign out front had a FOR RENT sign, which had FOR RENT crossed out and KNELLER'S HAPPY CAMPERS spray painted in the same shade of red that was used to cross out the words FOR RENT.  
Luke shrugged. "We'll pull over here but sleep in the car till they kick us out. If anyone asks, I'll say the alternative was passing out at the wheel. I mean, what are they gonna do? Arrest me for safe driving?"  
Like this shithole isn't punishment enough. He thought to himself.  
Rory sighed. His arm was raised out the car window, holding his cellphone in search of a signal. "I will not argue with that logic. Now tell me, you gettin any bars out here? My phone's pretty useless".  
"Man, if I'm being honest, I didn't even know cellphones were worth much of anything here before you called me. I just gave you that number out of habit" Luke admitted.  
"That figures" Rory muttered under his breath.  
"Look, there's a pay phone just around to the other side of this campsite" he pointed straight down from where the car sat. "I'm gonna go call Kostya on it, like I promised him, and then come back. Alright?"  
Luke nodded. "I'll be here".

Rory made his call and came straight back to the old wrangler, as promised, to find Luke already asleep and stretched from his side of the car to Rory's.  
Rory had apparently crawled in the back seat, not wanting to wake Luke, and fell asleep soon after.  
Luke slept til the early hours of the morning when he awoke to find a largely built man, wearing a police cap and a badge and tie both pinned to his white T shirt, knocking on his window.  
He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes, and gestured for the cop to give him a second to roll down the window.  
Rory stirred slightly, in the back seat, but didn't wake yet.  
Luke yawned. "Can I help you, officer?"  
"You're on PIC property here, sir, you and your friend here are gonna have to take this little sleepover someplace else" the man answered coldly.  
"PIC?" Luke questioned.  
"People In Charge" the cop answered. "Can I see a license and registration?"  
Luke nodded, fumbling around in the glove compartment til he found the requested papers and pulling out his license to hand to the cop.  
The cop walked away for a moment then returned them to him at the window.  
He took his hat off momentarily, which revealed a large head wound that Luke could imagine a bullet must've left.  
"So, where you boys headed?" he asked.  
Luke pulled out the paper he'd taken from the gas station and pointed the address to the officer. "Right here. See, my friend here just found out his brother had offed a while after he did, we've been driving since last night to find it. I was getting tired, so I pulled over here to rest my eyes so to avoid an accident." he explained.  
The cop nodded. "Let me see that?" he gestured for Luke to hand him the paper.  
Rory had begun rubbing his own eyes, as he was waking up while they did this.  
The cop took a closer look at the address.  
"well you're on the right track" he told Luke. "Place you're looking for is just a few more miles that way, just keep going straight.  
Straight's not exactly my strong suit. Rory thought to himself, though decided to keep to himself in case the cop had been ill humored.  
"Keep going straight" Luke repeated back to the cop "thanks, will do"  
He handed the paper back to Luke. "No problem, I hope you find him"  
Luke nodded. "Thank you, I'm sure we will". He rolled the window back up as the cop walked away.  
"We in trouble?" Rory asked sleepily.  
Luke shook his head. "Not at all, Sleeping Beauty, he just came over to say how pretty I look" he teased.  
Rory rolled his eyes. "Ha ha".  
Luke put the key in the ignition. "Nah, we're fine, man. Just can't stay here, something about it belonging to the People In Charge."  
Rory furrowed his brows. "People In Charge?" he asked. "What? Like this is _The Raddison_, or whatever it's called, and you just walk up to the front desk if you don't like your room?"  
"_The Raddison_" Luke repeated.  
Rory shrugged. "I think I'm saying that right, I don't know, I heard it on _Orange Is The New Black_ before I offed."  
"Right" Luke said. "The lesbian prison show, right?"  
Rory chuckled sarcastically. "Yeah, man" he put up air quotes. "The lesbian prison show" Rory climbed up to the front passenger seat and buckled in his seat belt. "Man, I miss that show".  
Luke pulled away from the spot and started down in the direction the cop had pointed him in. "I'm sure".


	10. Miracles

Rory fumbled around in the glove compartment, once again, for a new tape or CD to put on.  
So far everything he was finding either skipped, straight up didn't play at all, or was something they'd already played on repeat til they couldn't stand it.  
"Sorry, man" Luke said. "If I'd known there was any sort of an afterlife, I'd have offed with better tuneage in my pockets"  
"Tuneage, huh?" Rory snickered, still fumbling.  
"Ahhh, shit!" he cried, as the one he was finally about to settle on fell down a black hole which appeared in front of the seat. "Shit, shit, shit, man. I'm sorry"  
Luke tried to peer over, while still half focused on the road. "why, what happened?"  
Rory sighed. "I dropped a Guns N Roses tape down the black hole, I'm sorry"  
"Been there, done that" Luke chimed a little too cheerfully. "We'll pull over and find it at the next rest stop up ahead"  
Rory looked back up at Luke, curiously.  
Does he think I'm joking about a black hole?  
Rory thought to himself. Has he seriously never dropped anything since he offed?  
Rory shook that thought out of his mind.  
Luke looked back at him, curiously. "You've SERIOUSLY never dropped anything since you offed?"  
"Well sure I have, man" Luke. Answered . "It's just under that seat, we'll get it back".  
Rory shook his head. "Nah, man, it's this black hole, like the Bermuda Triangle or some shit. Stuff falls down it, you ain't seeing it again".  
"Seriously?" Luke sighed. "Man, that sucks"  
"Yep" Rory said. "Everyone learns that the hard way around here, kind of a fucked up right of passage"  
Luke shrugged "that's one way to put it, I guess"  
"I'm lucky that I haven't lost anything TOO important yet, that belonged to me anyway, but Kostya's brother, man! That guy just won't shut up about it"  
"No kidding" Luke said.  
Rory nodded. "I love Kostya and all, but if I have to sit through another dinner with his family where Eugene's going off about Zia losing his damn sunglasses, I might just consider offing myself again"  
"Why, so you can end up in a bigger shithole than this one?" Luke snickered.  
"Right, that would be my luck, wouldn't it?" Rory answered. "You haven't heard Eugene go off though, I'm sure it's better" he joked.  
"I will take your word for that" Luke shrugged. "You sure there's nothing else in there?"  
Rory shuffled a small iPod touch from his pants pocket. "Not unless that aux chord works". He pointed to a short aux chord that lay in the mess of tapes and discs and other assorted crap in the glove compartment.  
Luke shrugged. "Not for me, it doesn't, but you're welcome to try".  
"Can't hurt" Rory muttered, plugging it into his iPod and then into the little aux port on the stereo. He switched it to the proper AUX setting and hit his iPod and then the stereo a a fewq times until it BLASTED on, almost as loud as it had the equally inappropriate, for the circumstances, Queen song earlier.

"This ain't a room full of suicides!We're believers, I believe tonight

We can leave this world, leave it all behind..."

The volume and mere shock of it working startled Luke about a foot out of his seat.  
"JESUS, Rory!..." he paused for several moments to catch his breath before he spoke again. "H-How'd you do that?"  
"I-I just hit the iPod and the stereo a few times, didn't actually think it would work but I guess it did."

"...where the good guys die and the bad guys win (who cares)  
It ain't about all the friends you've made  
But the graffiti they write on your grave"

"I-I guess it did..." Luke marveled. "Shit!...got anything else on that thing?"  
"Oh I'm sorry, am I boring you with my emo music" Rory teased.  
Rory chuckled. "Nah, man, far from it! I haven't been able to get anything but tapes to work in that old thing since I got here, I'm actually kind of amazed"  
Rory cranked the volume to a more reasonable level. "Alright then...damn, I guess Kostya wasn't so full of shit when he was going on about miracles in this place"  
"Miracles, huh?" Luke scoffed sarcastically. "Miracle might be stretching it, I mean it's amazing sure, but..."  
Rory cut him off. "Nah man, it is. That kind of shit happens here."  
Luke glanced over at him "...really"  
"Yeah...I kinda thought Kostya was full of it when he told me, you know, just trying to lift my spirits a little or something, but yeah no all kinds of miracles...small albeit, like making a stereo or headlights that have never worked turn on or changing the color of something, but miracles nonetheless"  
Luke chuckled. "Man, this place just gets weirder and weirder, doesn't it?"  
Rory went ahead and set up a playlist for the rest of the drive. "Man, you have NO idea".


	11. This Is It

_"__...The earth is a bitch_  
_We've finished our news_  
_Homo Sapiens have outgrown their use_  
_All the strangers came today_  
_And it looks as though they're here to stay_  
_Oh, you pretty things (oh, you pretty things)_  
_Don't you know you're driving your_  
_Mamas and papas insane?..."_

David Bowie was what was now playing from the shitty little stereo that the kid had somehow made to work with the aux chord that was hooked to his iPod. A chord that Luke himself could not get to work for shit, no less, and that was in the whole week he had been here and trying it, yet this kid had gotten it to work in less than one minute.  
Luke shook his head and muttered, still awe struck under his breath. "Unfuckingbelievable".  
Rory chuckled. "Well, believe it".  
"You heard that, huh?" Luke said. "Well it is kind of amazing".  
Rory furrowed his brows a bit. "I hope that's not in bad taste either..."

_"__...let me make it plain_  
_Gotta make way for the homo superiorrrr.."_

Luke chuckled. "What, the song? How? Bowie's a God, man"  
"Right, of course" Rory agreed. "Nah, I meant...uhh..." he gestured toward the aux chord that hung, somewhat loosely a swaying a bit as they drove, connecting the iPod to the stereo.  
The realization amused Luke, more than anything. "Ahhh, right, cause of how I uhh" he made a rope pulling motion with his hand, keeping the other on the wheel, and made a crrrrrick! sound effect.  
Rory nodded. "Yeah, that".  
Luke chuckled again. "Nahhh, man. I'm over that...waaay over that"  
Rory nodded. "Good. Good to know"  
"Besides..." Luke added. "That other song, if anything should've bothered me, really. Right? Swing from a rope, if you dare!"  
Rory chuckled. "Right,_ You know what they do to guys like us in prison?_"  
Luke pointed his finger. "Exactly, that one. Your so called..." he added air quotes "emo music".  
"Right, that" Rory answered. "Well, it's not for everyone, I know"  
Luke shrugged. "I'm a fan. Always did like My Chem."  
Rory chuckled. "Also good to know".

_"__Ground control to Major Tom_  
_Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong_  
_Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you..."_

Rory held the paper in his hand and looked out his window toward the house that Luke pulled the car to a stop in front of.  
"This is it" he said. "This is the place".  
Luke nodded. "I'll be here, man".  
"You're a good friend, man" he said, patting his shoulder before he opened the car door. "I'll be back"  
Luke nodded as he watched him walk up to the little one story house.

It wasn't a big house, but it wasn't particularly small either. In fact, Luke imagined it was probably a decent little place to live...well, decent for this life anyway.

Rory approached the red door, which reminded him a little of something out of a Nightmare On Elm Street movie, and pressed his thumb to the little doorbell to the right side of the door.  
Rory stood there, looking around and then down to the doormat beneath his feet which read The Neighbors have better stuff in bold black letters over the usual tannish brown background. He snickered a little to himself.  
_"__Yep, that's Jett's humor alright"_.


	12. Reunion

The door opened and a pretty, young, woman with dark hair that came down to her shoulders, maybe the same age or a year or two younger than Liv, in a t shirt and a leather jacket that came to about an inch above her jeans stood in the doorway instead of Jett.  
She pulled her at her sleeves, to make sure they were covering the wrist scars that had likely gotten her here in the first place, before she spoke.  
"Can I help you?" she asked.  
Rory peered inside a little. "Yeah I uhh, listen, maybe I got the wrong house...I'm looking for Jett Young.." he gestured his hands as he began to describe him. "...little taller than I am, dark hair about the length of yours-"  
"Well he's not up yet, sleepy fuck, but he's here" she snickered at that last part. "He's my roommate".  
Rory nodded, putting his hand out to shake hers "yeah that sounds like him. I'm Rory Young, I'm his brother".  
Her face got a little more sullen and serious when he said that.  
"Of course..." she said a little more quietly. "Of course, I know who you are...I've heard all about you, how you..."  
Rory nodded. "Yeah".  
"Did he also tell you he may or may not have a girlfriend?" he thought to himself, though decided against saying it out loud.  
"Well come in" she said, gesturing in. "Come in, I'm Jade, by the way."  
He padded his shoes a little on the mat and stepped in the door. "Thanks, Jade."

The living room was pretty decent looking.  
There was a chair on the other end of the couch that his brother was sprawled totally, across, face down, which was right next to the front door, and a TV straight across from that.

Rory approached the couch and just stood there, sullenly looking at his brother for a few moments.  
He looked him over, trying to find any visible scars which might indicate how he did it.  
Rory shook his shoulder, gently, wake him.  
"Jett? Jeeett? Jett, wake up, come on".  
His voice cracked a little when he said his name again. Cracked, because he started to picture the situation vice versa...in the hospital, after his crash.  
He wiped a tear away from his eye, as he pictured his brother, the one thing besides Kostya who had ever really meant anything to him, trying desperately to wake a brother who would never see another day of that life again.  
He cleared his voice and raised it almost to a shout. "JETT!"  
The girl, who's introduced herself as Jade, flinched a little when he did and he felt bad.  
_"__Shit, my luck, my voice really wasn't louder than I thought it was and she was abused or something in her other life. He tried to shake that thought from his head. "Nahh man, you're overthinking again, way overthinking"_

Jett sat up a little, sleepily rubbing at his eyes, and groaned.  
"Jesus, alright I'm up. I'm up what the hell time is- "  
He was sitting upright on the couch now and trailed off his sentence as he tried to make sense of who was standing right in front of him.  
Rory nodded, as if hearing Jett's thoughts trying desperately to piece together if that was really his brother and how he had actually found him.  
"Rory?" he nearly leapt up off the couch to run and quickly, and tightly, embrace his little brother in his arms. "Oh my God" he blubbered into his shoulder. "Jesus Christ, it's you, it's you, I-" he started whimpering.  
His big brother, a guy who wouldn't cry if you jammed a knife through his chest, was standing before him and trying his best to hold back tears in front of his little brother. The very brother he thought he might not ever see again.  
Rory didn't know how to respond, really, except for... "I'm sorry Jett..." Rory sniffled into his brother's shoulder. "Jett, I'm so sorry...can you forgive me?"  
Jett lifted up his head and shook it. "I'm not mad at you, buddy, I could never be mad"  
"Still though..." Rory replied, trying to collect himself.

Jett glanced over at Jade, who was standing awkwardly to the sideline watching the reunion, and then back to him.  
"So you, uhh, you met Jade".  
"Yeah, man, I met Jade. What's going on with you, though? I wanna know about you. How long you been here?"  
Jade took a box of cigarettes and pointed toward the back door. "I'm just gonna let you two...you know..."  
Jett nodded then turned his attention back to Rory.  
"...a couple months after your crash" he finally answered. "I tried to go on a-after you went I just- it was like in It, ya know, like right after Georgie dies, I knew what he meant. Cause after y- " Jett shook his head. "Everything just reminded me of you, how YOU weren't there anymore. And I just- I was so mad at Mom, you know, cause it was her fault, right? she fucking pushed you to do it, how else were you supposed to take it?"  
Rory opened his mouth to say something but stopped.  
"...so I took some of mom's pills out of the cabinet, I didn't read what they were, I just took a lot of them. Little while after that, I woke up here" he looked around the place. "Well not here here, but you know..."  
Rory nodded.  
"How did you even find me? I tried looking for you, of course I did, but I didn't know where to start..."  
Rory pulled the folded up paper from his pocket, the one with the address on it, and showed it to him.  
Jett chuckled a little. "Yeah...you know me".  
Rory nodded "I do, by the way...you know...forgive you".  
Jett forced a little, rebellious, half smile. "I appreciate that..."  
Rory nodded and Jett changed the subject.  
"So what about you, bro, what've you been up to?"  
"I've been around...been staying with this guy, he's pretty cool." he answered.  
Jett raised his eyebrows suggestively.  
"Sooome guy, you say? he have a name?"  
Rory snickered, nodding. "His name's Kostya, we've been seeing each other a little while"  
"Hmmmhmmm...how long's a little while?" Jett probed.  
"Siiiince about a month after I offfed, so about four months"  
Jett nodded. "He'd better be nice to you bro, you know I'll kick his ass if he's not"  
"He's nice, he's nice" Rory nodded.  
"Well, I gotta meet this Kostya then" Jett peered out the, still, open door. "He here with you?"  
Rory shook his head. "Nah, he's back at our apartment" he nodded out toward the Jeep, where Luke was lighting another cigarette. "That's just my friend, Luke".  
"I see" Jett waved hand out the door to Luke. He couldn't tell whether Luke waved back or not.  
"Mind if I come with you, get to know this Kostya of yours?" he asked.  
Rory nodded. "Of course, I'd like that."


	13. Thanks For Everything

Rory opened the back door to the car, to let Jett In and found Luke thumping his hand against the floor of the car in frustration.  
"Everything okay, man" Rory asked.  
"Yeahhh, damn black hole just stole my lighter". Luke grumbled.  
Jett fumbled in his pocket for a minute. "Here, take mine". He tossed Luke a slightly rusted silver lighter with a "J" on it.  
Luke caught it, using only his left hand, and lit up. "Thanks, man"  
Rory turned to his brother, slightly puzzled. "Since when do you smoke?"  
Jett looked at him awkwardly and shrugged. "Since...well..."  
Rory picked up the implication. "...right"

Jett slid in to the back, left passenger seat from the right hand door and Rory slid in beside him.  
"Thanks for lookin out for him, man" Jett said.  
Luke shrugged. "Don't mention it."  
Luke put the key in the ignition and looked back at Jett from the rear view mirror. "I'm Luke, by the way"  
Jett nodded. "So I hear...I guess you know I'm Jett"  
Luke chuckled. "Yeah, suppose I do".  
"Don't get used to it" Rory interjected. "He's not great with names."  
Luke rolled his eyes. "Well, who names their kid Kostya though? I mean, come on."  
"It's Russian, Luke." Rory scoffed. "and it's not hard"  
"Kostya, huh?" Jett asked suggestively again.  
"Yes, Kostya" Rory answered. "See, he gets it."  
Luke muttered something under his breath that sounded like mocking, but Rory couldn't tell for sure.  
"Didn't hear that, wanna speak up?" Rory said, snidely.  
"I said Fuck you" Luke teased. "How's that?"

Luke returned to the car, from the gas station they stopped at, with a new lighter that he tucked safely away into his jacket's chest pocket and tossed back the one that Jett loaned him.  
Jett just barely caught it in time and scoffed, teasingly, at Luke and lit a fresh cigarette as they pulled away.  
"Jesus, man, you trying to lose mine too?"  
"Hey, you caught it, didn't you?" Luke remarked.  
Jett rolled his eyes.  
Luke gestured to Rory and tossed him a bag of chips "here, your turn!"  
"Thanks" he snickered.  
Luke nodded.

"So, did you really try to hit on my girlfriend?" Jett teased.  
Luke raised an eyebrow "Ohh, is that what he told you?" He scoffed. "I did not hit on her, for one, I was making conversation. And for the other, who am I to know who she was."  
Jett put a free hand up. "Hey, man, take it easy, I'm only half serious."  
"Well don't scare me like that, man" he tossed a finished cigarette out the window.  
"If I'm being honest.." Jett added. "I didn't know that she offed...or if she'd even take me back"  
"Rory fumbled around in his pocket and pulled out a little strip of paper. "She gave me a phone number, said she wanted to pass along that she wanted to talk." He handed it's to him.

It was late afternoon by the time Luke got them back to Rory's apartment. He walked them up to the door and he and Jett helped him with his stuff.  
"Thanks for everything man..." Rory said. "I don't know how I can ever repay you."  
Luke shook his head. "You don't owe me anything, kid. It's the least I could do."  
"Still though..." Rory insisted. "There's gotta be something I can do"  
"Well, if you reeeally insist.." Luke suggested. "You can take me up for that drink I owe ya."  
Rory chuckled. "It's a deal. Tomorrow? Same time, same place?"  
Luke nodded. "You got it."  
"Sure you can't stay for dinner?" Rory offered.  
Luke shook his head. "That's alright. Think I'm gonna drive over to Kamikaze, see if I still have a job, and then beg for it back if I don't."  
Rory chuckled. "Alright, then. Good luck with that!"  
Luke nodded. "Thanks kid, I'll need it. He turned waved a hand up as he walked away. "I'll see ya around."  
Rory waved back to him. "See ya."

"You mind if I actually meet up with you guys in an hour or so?" Jett asked. "Think I'm gonna walk up to that diner and try and catch Liv getting off of her shift."  
Rory shrugged. "I can walk you over there if you want, it's not too far from here."  
Jett nodded. "Sure, why not?".


End file.
